1949 Chevrolet Pickup - It's About Time

One day our editor, Jim Rizzo, was heading to his local hardware store, McFadden-Dale Hardware, in Corona, California, when he spotted a clean '49 Chevy pickup in the parking lot. The truck was so nice; he had to find the owner. So Riz asked around and found out that an employee of the hardware store owns the truck and that he was out on a delivery. Tony Range, the owner, is retired and didn't want to sit around the house all day and twiddle his thumbs. So he took a job at the hardware store as a means of getting out of the house and helping fund his truck.

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In the early '70s Tony had his fair share of fun toys. He started with a stock '50 three-window that was purchased for a measly $100. He drove it for a few years before he decided to customize it. He purchased a used 283 small-block with a four-barrel carb and set it aside on the garage floor. Then he installed a '57 Pontiac rearend with the help of his brother-in-law and his drag racing partner. Around this time Tony was single and had too many things going on at the same time-a '70 Chevelle Malibu SS with a 396 and a four-speed project, bowling two nights a week, karate two nights a week, and working on and flying radio airplanes the rest of the time. Then Tony got married so the dirty motor and the truck was replaced by his wife, Debbie's, new shiny Pinto Runabout. Yes, that's right folks, a Pinto.

Fast-forward to today, Tony is now in his late 60s. It was time for him to find the truck of his dreams, instead of just dreaming about it. Tony was having a hard time deciding what era of pickup he wanted to build, and it was the only thing he talked about for weeks at work. Everyone Tony talked to including his boss, Rob Sandberg, says, "Tony was driving us crazy about all the truck talk." So Sandberg helped him pick a body style, at around the same time Debbie had been thinking of similar body lines.

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With the era picked out, Tony spent time after work searching for the perfect donor vehicle. Local auto and truck ads and several swap meets later, Tony was starting to lose hope on finding his dream truck. He received some snail mail and was checking through the weekly Pennysaver when a '49 Chevy pickup ad caught his eye. Tony called the number and asked if the truck was still for sale and before you know it the truck was in his driveway.

The '49 five-window was exactly what he was looking for, and the previous owner had installed some sweet aftermarket add-ons. A Classic Performance Parts Mustang II kit with rack-and-pinion steering lowers the front suspension. To spin the rear wheels, a Currie 12-bolt rearend with 3.83 gears was added and supported by monoleaf springs. Stepping on the brake pedal, a CPP four-wheel disc brake kit aids in the impressive stopping power. Tony's wheels and tires of choice went to the vintage-looking Smoothies by Wheel Vintiques and Coker Classic radials with big whitewalls. A Chevy 350 with 350hp crate engine backed by a 350 trans puts the power to the ground. Supplying the correct air/fuel ratio is done with an Edelbrock Performer intake and a matching Edelbrock carb. Powdercoated Hedman Block Hugger headers connected to a 21/4 dual exhaust with Magnaflow mufflers help the 350 breathe properly. Tony also installed some billet aluminum brackets to hold the alternator and replaced all V-belt pulleys with a serpentine setup.

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With all this good stuff attached it is no wonder Tony could not pass up buying this beauty.

There was only one problem with the truck: It was blue. Tony wanted a red pickup so with careful planning and teardown of the fenders, bed panels, tailgate, and running boards the '49 was ready for the bodywork. He sent the Chevy over to Speed Shop Custom Paint in Corona. The next step was picking what color red he wanted to paint the truck. The easiest way Tony could think of picking the color was to check out other vehicles while he was driving his delivery truck. A few reds grabbed his attention but all it took was a '08 Dodge Charger to drive by to make Tony realize that it was that red he had to have. So he asked Tony Carrerra the painter at Speed Shop Custom Paint to find out what it would take to match the color of the Charger. A PPG Deltron 2000 PR-3 red was mixed to specs and both Tony and Carrerra matched it to a Dodge catalog.

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After the paint was done and cured Tony towed the '49 back to his house for final assembly. This was the most challenging part of the build for Tony because for some reason the running boards didn't want to fit and he ended up scratching the paint. Other than some minor touch-ups and some stressful nights of hanging parts, the truck was finally altogether.

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What does Tony have planned for the truck? "The truck is not done yet, and there are few small details I would like to get to before I can call it a finished project," he says. "I plan on taking it to a few local car shows and also driving to Long Beach, where my grandkids live."